A Change of Pace
by Falcon226
Summary: Santana's starting to get over Brittany. They're still friends and all, but she wants someone to love. A new girl comes into her life and makes things complicated: What if Marissa from The Glee Project had won? Santana/Marissa-inspired-OC. Gingertana!
1. A Babbling Pile of Goo

A/N Like many other fans of The Glee Project, I was disappointed when Marissa was eliminated. Personally, I would have been happy if the top five included Marissa, Lindsay, Damien, Samuel, and Hannah. Any of them (in addition to Emily, actually). would make for interesting characters with some skill to back it up. I, personally, would love to have written a role for Marissa. The details we could glean about her life and her generally sweet but aware demeanor really appeal to me. After coming across an interview where Marissa suggested herself as Santana's new love interest, I couldn't get the idea out of my mind.

Enough about me; this is what could have happened on Glee if Marissa had won the guest starring role. I don't own Glee, The Glee Project, or any songs mentioned in the course of this fanfiction. Marissa von Bleicken owns herself.

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><p>Santana was halfway certain that she had seen stars. After the impact, she looked dazedly around, wondering if Brittany was similarly affected. She couldn't see Brittany, but a flash of vibrant red hair caught her eye. Hoping that this wasn't another hallucination, she followed the trail of red with her gaze. After a moment, Santana's eyes settled on a bashful looking girl gathering a large assortment of school supplies.<p>

"San?"

Oh, right. That was her name. Err, nickname. Serenely, she answered, "Yeah, Britt?"

"I thought we weren't supposed to stare. Or, well. I'm not supposed to stare. You said so. Am I allowed to now? 'Cause that would make things so much easier when I have to go to the nursing home. Why're you staring?"

The strange girl blushed (obviously, she'd heard) and proceeded to drop half of the possessions that she had just picked up. If it was even possible, the redhead looked even more awkward than she had just a moment ago.

"I'm not staring!" Santana snapped. Her expression softened slightly when she saw the girl look at her. More brusquely than was polite, Santana told her, "I'm helping you."

What was it about that appreciatively sweet smile that made Santana feel so _warm_? Santana collected the girl's scattered pens- damn, who needed that many violet _pens_?- and what resembled an un-paper clipped social studies report. After deciding that the girl was organized enough, Santana handed the items she had acquired to the girl who looked simultaneously relieved and ridiculously nervous.

"Thanks," the girl murmured before shuffling away quickly.

Santana wanted to ask Brittany who that interesting girl was, but for some reason she though it more important to say: "Brittany, all of your grandparents live in Europe. Or they're dead. Why would you ever have go to a nursing home?"

* * *

><p>The Glee practice room seemed to become at least ten times more crowded after Rachel Berry entered. It also became about twenty times <em>louder<em> once she started talking.

"As an honest performer, I feel that it is my responsibility to inform my greatest competitors and friends of the upcoming community talent show!"

Half of the class stared at Rachel blankly; the other half glanced at her skeptically.

"Uh huh. And why, Rachel, would we stoop to a community talent show after making it to nationals as a group?"

Rachel sighed condescendingly like she was talking to a small child. "Oh, Kurt, even the greatest hometown heroes return to their roots eventually."

"Something tells me your roots need some work," someone muttered. It might have been Quinn or Santana. Or someone else.

Clearing her throat, Rachel said, "Anyway, I though it would be a great fairly low-stress competitive bonding experience! How often are prizes at stake in Glee Club for solos and duets?"

"What are the prizes?" piped up Artie.

"First place gets a gift card to Breadstix for two!"

Smirking, Santana said, "Well, Berry, you might just have yourself some competition. Thanks for the tip."

Everyone present launched into a spirited discussion about what they might do for the talent show; Blaine and Kurt were arguing about the most romantic duet they could pull off, Mike and Tina compared song choices, etc. Rachel looked incredibly pleased with herself until Mr. Schue walked in, demanding attention.

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><p>"Ginger!" Sue bellowed over her shoulder, much to everyone's confusion.<p>

Brittany mouthed, '_Me?_'' at Santana, who shook her head no automatically. The dark-haired girl had her attention focused elsewhere. Specifically, she was looking at one confused "ginger."

"She doesn't mean it, Morgan," someone said helpfully to the poor girl.

'_Morgan_,' Santana thought to herself. '_So that's her name_.'

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><p>"I thought someone would want to partner with me for the talent show long before now, but I can do just as well on my own!" Rachel said to herself as she sauntered off to the practice room. With sheet music in hand and her own typical optimism, she was ready to make what was already amazing absolutely perfect. "What? Why do I hear music? Noah must have left the radio on in there…"<p>

Whereas most people thought their musings to themselves, Rachel felt that her life held greater drama when she said her thoughts aloud. It was good practice, anyway, for the spunky, dramatic roles she planned to play on Broadway which utilized inner monologue.

Hintings of something rather cool and jazzy were coming through the door. To Rachel's intrigue, an unfamiliar live voice started to croon. Manners probably dictated letting the mysterious voice (it was probably female…) finish before butting in, but Rachel had never been one to put politeness first. Noisily, she opened the door.

The singer stopped mid-sentence, but the backtrack playing on her mp3 player kept playing. "Um…"

"Hello! I'm Rachel Berry. I don't think we've ever met. Your voice is quite good. Of course, not as wonderful and pure as mine, but you have talent. Do tell me why you didn't try out for Glee Club when we held auditions last week? For what occasion is this song? What's your name?"

"Erm, hi. I'm Morgan Hanson. Um… I kind of want… I'm going to perform in the community talent show this weekend. I- I didn't want Coach Sylvester- or a lot of people, really- to tease me anymore."

Rachel nodded in understanding. With great notoriety came increased teasing and slushies in the face. However, Rachel was sure that adversity would be worth sticking it out through in the end. This Morgan… she had potential, sure. Perhaps she could make up for some of the Sunshine karma and help this budding singer achieve some confidence! And Rachel might have been lacking for friends! "Great! Would you like if I gave you some tips on your singing? You know you're a bit flat and-"

"I know," Morgan said unhappily. After glancing at the door and seeing some people that she kind of recognized passing by, she grabbed her mp3 player. "I… have to go. Those people- You know. Hate waiting."

"…Nice to meet you, Morgan!"

'_Morgan?_' Santana repeated to herself, glancing behind her.

"Whatcha lookin' at, S?" Brittany asked, looking back as well.

Morgan came shuffling up to the two girls, face mostly hidden by her hair. "Hi, can I walk with you?" she whispered. "Rachel Berry is kind of scaring me."

"Hi again. And sure, sure," said Santana, amazed at her own ability not to turn into a babbling pile of goo.

If Santana was going to be honest with herself, Morgan was cute. After things had fallen apart with Brittany and Artie, Santana had wanted to act on the feelings she felt for her best friend. There'd been a lot of inner conflict and a heck of a lot of tears, but Santana had mostly gotten over her first love. Santana didn't think that she could stand losing her best friend over something awful like a break-up. A part of Santana would always have feelings toward the unassuming blonde, but she needed her as a friend more than as a girlfriend. Also, she still wasn't too keen on coming out. That didn't mean that Santana wasn't allowed to look at pretty girls; she was single, after all. Alas, the fair Morgan probably was straight. Ah well.

Morgan smiled appreciatively. "I'm Morgan."

"I'm Brittany! And this is Santana! She likes movies and sweet lady kisses!"

"Huh?"

Santana laughed nervously. "It's a book. Summer reading, you know. Embarrassing title, and all."

"Oh. I guess. But…" Swallowing hard, Morgan paused. "I d-don't know why everything that sounds or is, you know, same-sex is so taboo. We're people, right?"

Furrowing her brow, Santana wondered if Morgan was implying personal gayness or general empathy. Santana knew that Brittany didn't care about what being a lesbian meant, so long as nobody had to travel to Lebanon unnecessarily; Brittany would have missed Santana too much if she went to the Middle East for too long. "So why were you talking to Berry, anyway?"

"_She_ was talking to me," Morgan clarified. "It makes me a little nervous, being talked at for so long. She's intimidating."

Santana scoffed. "And I'm not?"

"You've been nothing but nice to me since I've met you. Rachel forgot she introduced herself to me during my first week of school. Insisted on showing me the ropes and promptly forgot about me," Morgan replied disdainfully. "Might just be a bad second impression, though."

"You met Rachel last week and she introduced herself again?" Brittany queried, waving her arms above her head in loose circles.

Morgan shook her head. "Last year."

"You're not a freshman?" Santana asked skeptically.

"Sophomore."

Santana felt strangely guilty, not recognizing this gorgeous girl before. "I'm sorry. I never really noticed you before."

"It's okay. I have that effect on people." Before Santana could say anything or Brittany could ask about the state of Kansas, Morgan added, "I should go. It's nice meeting the both of you." And she did leave, too quickly for Santana to react.

"Wait!" Santana called after her, too late for to make a difference.

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><p>More AN: I went back and forth between naming Marissa's character Morgan or Dana. Morgan works. I'unno. I hope to keep writing this fic, partially so I can share some of my favorite music in the songs the kids sing at the talent show. Hee.


	2. Boy Handwriting

A/N Hi, guys. I'd like to get some feedback on how I'm doing to make my stories more exciting. If my tone of writing is too flat or you disagree with someone's characterization, please tell me. I'm very receptive of constructive criticism. Also, positive reviews. I definitely wouldn't say no to those.

And just so y'all know, I love Rachel. She's a bit insensitive in this story for plot purposes. If this was Glee, she would get more sympathetic storylines and moments. But this is Santana and Morgan's story, for the most part, so their perspective is what counts. Enjoy!

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><p>A bad taste filled Santana's mouth when she woke up at first the next morning. She'd just an especially disgusting dream about having... interaction with Puck. She would be lying if she said that there had been no pleasure in her past affairs; sex for sex's sake just seemed like a waste now. As a horny teenager with way too many feelings, Santana wanted a gorgeous girl in her life that wanted to have awesome sex with her all the time. It was wishful thinking that she could get a girl like Morgan to spend lots of time with her, much less get her into bed.<p>

Groaning unhappily to herself, Santana realized it was still two hours before her alarm was supposed to go off. The best she could do with herself now was what she did every early morning: fantasize about living up the celebrity life. She'd just gotten into the club and told off Justin Bieber when the fucking alarm had to ruin everything.

There was lots of scowling on her part before she decided she should probably get to school on time. Restraining herself enough to only pummel the alarm clock into submission instead of mutilating it- 'Cause who just flicked the switch off anyway?- she got ready for the day. School would be, well, school. Glee would be Glee. She'd probably hang out with Brittany for a while after that and people-watch Math Club or the Drama Club dorks per usual. Then she'd probably do homework and feel sorry for herself for maybe half an hour before calling Brittany and some other people up to complain about how bored she was. Probably practice for Saturday's talent show, even if Berry was probably going rig the votes by threatening about the ACLU or something completely irrelevant.

Life... life kind of sucked sometimes.

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><p>Morgan really took a good look at herself in the girls' bathroom. The sticky melting colored slushie mixed in with her tears enough to sting, but that was the least of her worries. "Why?" she asked herself, too inaudible for whomever was taking a pee in stall on the end to hear.<p>

Raking her fingers through her blue-stained auburn waves, Morgan worked at getting most of the slush out. She'd let a friend borrow her spare set of clothes from her locker last week, so she was shit out of luck. Small mercies, it was just an hour and a half before the bell rang to signal the start of a glorious weekend.

Eventually, Morgan decided that she had done enough moping about her appearance. Still dripping blue ice slushlets, she took just one step towards the door when Santana walked in.

"We have got to stop running into each other," Santana said with a smirk. Monday with the crash, Tuesday with Coach Sylvester's outburst, Wednesday with avoiding Rachel, and now this. Her expression softened when she saw the blue slushie stains. "What happened to you? Don't answer that question. Why?"

Sniffling a little, Morgan said, "I really don't know. Coach Sylvester has something against me, but I don't know what I did to deserve it. My best guess is... my hair?" Morgan raised an eyebrow and moved a hand up self-consciously to her hair. "A big football player yelled something at me about going back to Scotland, and well, you know."

Before Santana could stop herself, she reached out and put a hand on Morgan's shoulder, even if it was sticky. "I have a change of clothes in my locker. You're just about my size. And you really should hang out with me and Brittany after Glee. I mean, if you want to. And you don't mind waiting. You're too young to drive, right?"

Nodding, Morgan glanced at the hand firmly placed on her shoulder. "Thanks, Santana. I don't know how anybody could think that you're a 'stone cold heartless bitch'." For that last bit, she pitched her voice lower and spoke in the most macho tone she could muster.

After Santana laughed genuinely, she suggested, "Why don't you sit in on Glee with us? You don't have to sing or anything, but I, you know, you shouldn't be wandering the halls alone or anything. Because that's... boring." _Not dangerous. Don't act overprotective, Santana. She can take care of herself._

"That would be... really awesome, actually."

It was that sweet appreciative smile that really made 'stone cold heartless bitch' Santana Lopez melt.

* * *

><p>Mr. Schuester clapped his hands to get the Glee Club's attention. "All right, everyone. We do have a while before we have to worry about sectionals, but we should still be looking for great songs to sing. So we're going to explore different song collections. Everyone who has a laptop, raise your hand so everyone can find their groups. Make sure to- Oh, who's this?"<p>

The Glee club looked in the direction Mr. Schue did. There were a few new freshman faces among the club, which might have made up for the absence of Sam Evans. Mercedes had informed everyone that Sam's dad had gotten back on his feet and found a great job in Indiana. He sent his best wishes and thanks, promising to keep in touch and see them at least at regionals to cheer them on.

"Oh my goodness, hi Morgan! I knew that we had a great talk last night, but I didn't realize that I had so inspired to come to Glee!"

Santana gritted her teeth, recalling Morgan's dislike of Rachel. "Shut up, Berry."

Chewing her lip nervously, Morgan raised her hand. "I can introduce my  
>self. I'm Morgan. Don't mind me, I'm just visiting. I hope that's not a problem, Mr. Schuester?"<p>

"It's no problem, Morgan. If you'd like to join, we'd love to hear you try out."

Morgan nodded nervously and put her feet up on her chair. She wrapped her arms around her legs and was content to watch Santana and Brittany look for music with Puck and Lauren.

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><p>It surprised Santana how well Morgan and Brittany hit it off. Morgan had a tendency to speak slowly, which was helpful when dealing with someone like Brittany. While Brittany was a lovely person and wise in ways, she wasn't much for keeping up with conversations.<p>

The post-Glee people-watching fest had featured plenty of laughs and random stories. And yet, Santana felt on edge with Morgan, like she might slip up if she wasn't on her guard. She found herself able to laugh easily, but she wanted to say more.

"This has been so much fun, guys," Morgan said appreciatively, hugging Brittany. "I'd love do more with you, but I have to practice for this talent show tomorrow."

Brittany smiled beatifically. "I _love_ talent shows!"

"Britt, you're in the talent show," Santana informed her gently. "At the Lima Community Center by the Wal-mart?"

"Yes," Morgan confirmed. "That's why Rachel was annoying me; she wanted to 'help' me with my singing when she caught me in the practice room. What, are you going to be there too?"

Santana nodded. "Heh. Yeah. But you know I'm going to beat you, Morgan. No offense." Flipping her hair, she offered a cocky smile.

"None taken. You two shouldn't stick around too long either if you plan on beating me... or even Rachel. Now give me your number, competition. Please."

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><p>"San," Brittany whined. "Can we go now?"<p>

Santana shook her head, more intent on her own appearance in the mirror for the moment. "I have to look perfect, Britt. Does this dress make my waist look off-center?"

Pouting, Brittany buried her face in Santana's sheets. "You look awesome in everything. I don't want to be late, or Artie or Quinn or somebody might say something that they don't think is mean but really is."

"Oh, fine," Santana conceded. "I do look hot all the time, though, so that's one less thing to worry about. Did you remember your shoes?"

"I'm wearing them under these boots."

Santana whirled around from the mirror and looked at Brittany's feet hanging off the side of her bed. It was _September._ Who wore waterproof winter boots in September? Brittany, apparently. "...Okay, then. I guess we're ready." _For Morgan, that is._

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><p>Of course Rachel had gotten to the community center three hours before everyone else. Her name (and accompanying gold star) were first on the talent show sign up list. Santana saw some names that she didn't recognize among at over half of the Glee Club's. One name seemed to be conspicuously absent...<p>

"Hi, am I late?" Morgan asked exasperatedly as she walked through the back door of the auditorium.

Santana, like a magnet, was drawn to Morgan. "No, you're fine. The show doesn't start for another ten minutes. Want me to sign you up?"

"I can do it," Morgan said stubbornly, juggling her backpack, her mp3 player, and her pencil case. She shoved her stuff under a nearby chair and got out one of those purple pens.

Santana would have liked to say that Morgan's handwriting was fluid and readable, but that would be a lie. "Morgan, you have _boy_ handwriting."

Snorting, Morgan finished scribbling her name and argued, "I do not. My handwriting is fine."

"No, see? Look at Finn's. Yours is the tiniest bit better than his. It's worse than Puck's, though."

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. Do I look like a boy to you? I'm a girl. I would have girl handwriting even if I dotted my i's with penises."

"One, ew. Two... Okay, yeah, mostly that's just really gross."

Maturely, Morgan stuck out her tongue.

* * *

><p>Some local politician "celebrity" was announcing the winners. Lima deputy mayor and renowned tennis coach Melanie Cuthbert called all of the competitors to the stage. Brittany bounced up and down in anticipation, so Santana put a hand on her best friend's shoulder to remind her to calm down.<p>

Deputy Mayor Cuthbert cleared her throat over the (small and apathetic) audience. The volume did not change at all. She shrugged and proceeded with her (unenthusiastic) announcement. "All of these competitors deserve props for their wonderful performances. I'd like to thank our sponsors, the Lima Swallow-watchers Directory, Breadstix, and Anne Onymous. Third prize goes to... Marcie Blakely. Second prize goes to... Rachel Berry."

Rachel gasped dramatically and glared pointedly at the judges. One guy looked like he was about to wet himself. Hell hath no fury like a teenage girl scorned.

"First place goes to... Morgan Hanson. Congratulate her, everyone. Here is your prize." The bland-voiced deputy mayor handed Morgan an envelope and left the building immediately.

Santana had _really_ wanted to win, but it was nice that at least someone had bested Rachel Berry at her own game. Nobody could deny that Morgan had a powerful voice and an obvious talent for jazzy riffs. Santana had been about to write off Morgan as a good but not-so-special singer until she got to the bridge of Norah Jones' "Turn Me On." Her edgy tone and obvious determination turned the song into something more than "just another track on the album."

Morgan didn't look like she could believe it, that she had won. Brow scrunched in confusion, she turned her heard towards Rachel, wondering if this was real. It wasn't until Santana and Brittany wrapped their arms around her and congratulated her that it all sunk in. "Holy... I won. I beat Rachel Berry. I- I-"

"You're going to Disney World?" Brittany put in helpfully.

"Close enough. I'm going to Breadstix!"

* * *

><p>Staring up at her ceiling thoughtfully, Santana wondered why it felt like she was crushing on half the female population at McKinley High at some point. This felt different, somehow, though. She <em>liked<em> Morgan, and it was almost as easy as being friends with Brittany. Easier, maybe, since she and Brittany had gone through so much together.

Her musings were interrupted by her ringtone. Rolling to her nightstand, she picked up her phone. Nothing on caller ID. Hm. "Hello?"

"Santana?"

"Yeah. Who is this? How'd you get my number? Am I going to have to-"

Tentatively, the voice interrupted, "S-Santana, it's me. Morgan."

"Oh, Morgan! Hi! What's up?" Santana sat upright quickly.

"I was just... Are you free next Friday evening?"

Santana shrugged, even if nobody was actually in the room with her. "I should be. Why?"

"Did you... Would you like to hang out? It's about the only night I'm really free this week. And, well, I..." Morgan trailed off.

"Yes. Of course. I'll see you then, if not in school. I can pick you up from your house at six?"

"Great. And I'm doing something with Brittany right after school, so don't worry about inviting her. I'd like some one on one time."

Santana felt her cheeks getting hot. "Yeah. Sure. Um. I, uh, have to go wash my homework. Bye. See you."


	3. Morgan Watch

A/N I appreciate your comments so much!

dogsrock7699~ Hope you keep loving it!

savetoniqht~ Yeah, I see Morgan as reserved, but not petrified of speaking when spoken to, generally. She's special once you notice her, but mostly a lucky find in a crowd. Obviously, she's not perfect, and in particular severely judges people based on how they treat her. There's more to her, which should come in a bit. Thanks for reviewing for both chapters!

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><p>The week went by way too slowly for Santana. Brittany was as awesome a friend as she always was, but Santana was still on the look-out for Morgan. Sure, it was eerily coincidental that they saw each other almost every day for a week, but Santana saw the people she knew in the halls a lot. And she might have taken to spending a few extra minutes getting to class on occasion on Morgan Watch. Every time she caught a glimpse of red hair, she kept looking for a certain sweet and lovely face.<p>

Oh, god. What was she thinking? Too much, too much.

Every now and then, Santana had the urge to call Morgan, but she was mostly waiting for the other girl to call first. yeah, it didn't actually make sense, but... It didn't make sense rationally, but Santana still wanted to see Morgan again before Friday.

Brittany hadn't been luckier than Santana on Morgan Watch, but she hadn't even been trying. According to Brittany, Morgan had dashed out of Ms. Fairfax's class after second period, arms full of heavy-looking textbooks, violet pens flying everywhere. Ms. Fairfax taught only AP US Government and AP US history. Hmm.

Friday couldn't come soon enough. Santana said good-bye to Brittany after school and went home to wait out the rest of the afternoon. That waiting got boring pretty quickly. Staring at the television until her brother informed her that she'd been doing nothing productive for an hour and half only made Santana weepy.

Fifteen minutes earlier than was necessary, Santana got in her car. She realized only then that she had absolutely no idea where Morgan lived. Huh. She fumbled around for a couple minutes because her cell phone went missing mysteriously. It somehow ended up in her sweatshirt pocket.

"Hello? Morgan?" Santana said after the call sounded like it had picked up.

"Um, yes?"

"I, erm, don't know where you live."

"Oh. Uh... Which crossroads are you nearest?"

Santana felt all flustered that she was forgetting where _she _lived too. Urrrgh. "Uh... Oak and... Woodbluff."

"Ah! Hey, you're right near me then. Let's see. Head towards Blackstaff and turn onto Gordon Street. My house is 426 on the left."

"426 Gordon Street... Got it. I'll be there in ten."

* * *

><p>Santana couldn't help but make assumptions about the people that lived in Morgan's neighborhood by their houses. Yeah, the Lopez family was well-set for life, but these houses were <em>huge<em>. Gaping at these mini mansions, she turned into number 426. As if in a trance, she got slid out of the car and glided up to the front door. Nervously, she pressed the doorbell and was not so pleased to hear a slightly out of pitch rendition of Frere Jacques. Some other time, she might have to say something about that doorbell.

Morgan didn't keep Santana waiting for too long. "Hi," she greeted, smiling shyly as she opened the door.

"Hi, yourself." Damn, did Morgan look good. Santana was only wearing nice jeans and a zip-up hoodie two sizes too big over a tank. Morgan was dressed far more formally in a cute sundress layered with a blazer.

"So... I was thinking I could put that gift card I won to good use. Would you want to... go to Breadstix with me?"

"Yes!" Santana said immediately. "I mean... Yeah, sure. That would be really awesome. I don't know why there's only one restaurant people go to in this town, but it's a great place, and I'd just, you know, would love to go with you. Thanks. But... why me?"

Morgan cast her gaze downward. Shyly, she hid behind her door. "It's crazy, but I just really like spending time with you. And... it... I- I- Um..." She chewed on her bottom lip before glancing up tentatively at Santana. "I like you Santana, even if I don't know you that well yet."

_Be still, my heart._ "I like spending time with you too. A lot."

"It's not like that, Santana. I mean, it is, but..." Morgan looked like she was about to cry. "I'm stupid. I just... All week I was wishing this could be like a date and- I"m sorry."

Santana could feel not-so-sad tears in her eyes coming right now. "Morgan, you're not... gay?"

"Yes? Kind of? Mostly? ...Why aren't you running away?"

Laughing nervously, Santana stepped closer to Morgan. "God. I- I'm so happy, I could _kiss_ you."

Morgan laughed herself and said cheekily, "If that's a yes, I don't kiss 'til the second date."

"Spoilsport," Santana said, too gleeful to be disappointed. She grabbed Morgan's hand. "No rule against holding hands on the first date, is there?"

"No," Morgan told her, squeezing her hand and blushing. "But you have to let me have my hand back so I can lock the front door since my parents aren't home. Hold on, and then we can get to know each other better." After releasing her hand from Santana's steady grip, Morgan pulled out her keys and went to work on the locks.

"Now that I don't have to keep that in anymore- Because, man, I was crushing on you hard- I just want to say you look _beautiful_. It's not just the dress, I promise. Although that's nice touch. I feel underdressed."

Morgan wrestled with the keys to get them out of keyhole before telling her, "It's okay, Santana. You're gorgeous enough to outshine whatever dress you would have worn if I'd told you."

As they reached Santana's car, she asked, "So, Miss Hanson, tell me how I got so lucky. Got any lesbian street cred that could rub off on me?"

Chuckling, Morgan slid into the passenger seat. "No, I've never really been able to work up the courage to tell anybody I like girls better than boys."

Santana bristled in mock annoyance. "I'm more than a girl, I'm a woman: a full blown, stone cold bitch of a woman."

With a snort, Morgan rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I've only ever had a preschool boyfriend. My parents... they... I've been forced on blind dates with their business associates' sons before. I c-can tell you that I'm a virgin, but I've had my first kiss. But it was with some square of a guy, so it doesn't really count. Very excited for that second date, if I get one."

"If dating you is as easy as being friends with you, I'm sure we can schedule that second date after dinner," said Santana, trying to focus on her driving instead of Morgan's perfectly contoured face. Relationships, affairs, virginity... Santana _really_ didn't want to get into her extensive sexual history. But Brittany... should she talk about Brittany? "I'm in the closet. Britt knows." _So does Karofsky, but you don't want to bring that up, do you? _"Karofsky knows. He was my beard last year... It's complicated." _Shit._ "I've never had a girlfriend before." _At least that's true_.

"We might be able to change that."

* * *

><p>The waiter was apparently very new: new enough that the older waitress Sandy kept having to come over and help. The poor guy's troubles made the two girls- Sorry, Santana. <em>Women<em>- giggle hysterically. Overall, this was probably the best date that Santana had been on in her life.

While Morgan cut up some of her chicken into pieces, she laughed and said, "Wow, I can't believe you did all of that at Nationals. You've half convinced me to join Glee Club."

Santana swallowed a big bite of spaghetti quickly so she could say, "Yeah, we have some good times, even if Rachel can be a pain. And everyone's had their fair share of drama. Even _Mike and Tina_ have drama. They're the most boringly happy and talented couple most of the time. I feel like I'm on some kind of crazy sitcom... Hey, you've been cutting up your food for like five minutes, and you only had _two_ breadsticks."

"Oh!" Morgan said, unnerved. "I was so interested in the conversation, I forgot I was eating!" Making a big dramatic show out of it, she took several bites and then balanced her fork and knife on top of the napkin dispenser. Holding her water glass now, she continued the conversation. "I'm not doing enough with my life, and maybe my parents would want me to get into some more extracurriculars."

"So? What clubs are you in?"

Gesticulating broadly with her water glass in hand, Morgan listed, "Oh, ACT prep club, tutoring, I did student government last year..."

"Busy, aren't you?"

Morgan shrugged. "I mean, it'll help me get into a good school right?"

To Santana, the phrase sounded tired and rehearsed. Changing the subject when she noticed something unusual, Santana asked, "So, is that hair natural or..."

"Do I really need to dye my eyebrows?"

"Ha."

"It's natural, I promise. I've had this problem since forever. My friends' moms and dads ever since I was little have always berated by parents for dyeing their little girl's hair. I don't really feel like I'm me when I dye my hair brown, though." Twirling a lock of hair, Morgan asked hesitantly, "Do you- If you want me to change it-"

"You're beautiful. Don't change."


	4. Smackwater Jack

A/N So this "gingertana" thing seems to be taking off on tumblr o_O

savetoniqht~ My mother has an eating disorder, so it's an issue near and dear to my heart. I really believe that television hasn't given too many honest and real portrayals of eating disorders, and I hope that Ryan Murphy and co. will do some research and talk to people when they do that storyline. Also, Marissa looks like she's at a healthy weight now, so I don't think she could pull off an anorexic weight... That's a good thing.

Ems~ I'll try to update every day!

kbcw~ That's quite the compliment! I strive to entertain.

* * *

><p>Easily, Friday night was the best date Santana ever had. While she walked Morgan to her door- the 'rents were still out- Santana had been thinking she had to say something at least as nice as a kiss.<p>

"Hey," Santana said, squeezing Morgan's hand briefly. "I can't tell you how amazing tonight was. I don't know if you wanna, but I'm hoping you'd like to, you know, be my girlfriend?"

Morgan pressed her lips together, giddily trying not to scream her happiness for all the neighbors to see. "Yes! Of course! I-" Bursting into inexplicably happy laughter, she just about threw herself in Santana's arms. Cuddling into the other girl's neck, she said more quietly, "I'd _love_ that."

Surprised by Morgan's strong reaction, Santana was stuck for words until there was the nice lull that came. Perhaps she was overtly optimistic, but it seemed like Morgan fit perfectly in her arms. "Is it okay that I'm not ready to tell people yet? About me... us?"

Sighing ambiguously, Morgan replied after a beat, "Just as long as I know I'm your only. I- I've heard about your reputation."

Santana stiffened. "Uh... There's a really good explanation for that..."

"Do tell," Morgan said, sounding more intrigued than offended.

"I fucked all those guys because I wasn't happy with who I was or something. So, yeah. I guess the reputation is 'deserved.'"

Morgan didn't say anything for what felt like forever. Eventually, "Thanks for being honest with me. And I have to be honest with you too. I- Right now, this whole relationship idea is shiny and new to me. I don't want to bring anything too complicated into this just yet." It went without saying she meant sex. "I'll see you Monday, Santana." Brushing the faintest kiss on Santana's cheek, Morgan disentangled herself and moved to unlock the door quickly.

* * *

><p>Santana left herself alone with her thoughts that night.<em> Should I call Brittany? Or Morgan? I think I read on Yahoo News once that you should call or text a girl telling them how great a time you had, but I don't want to sound desperate! <em>Contemplation lasted at least an hour before Santana fell asleep in her clothes. Dreams brought nothing tangentially rated to her life, so she woke up the next morning five hours too early for a Saturday, rather confused. It was only when she remembered how crazy awesome last night was that she located her cell phone to make an urgent call to Brittany.

_"_C'mon, Britt," she egged on the phone. "Need to talk to you now..."

"Hello?" a tired voice answered sleepily. "Is this Santa? My phone says Santa, but my calendar says September."

Taking a deep breath so as not to inflict any early morning grouchiness on her best friend, Santana explained, "It's _Santana_, Britt. Your thumb's probably covering caller ID."

"Oh. _Ohh!_ Hi, San! Why're you calling me at six something in the morning?"

Baffled, Santana looked at her clock to confirm that it was indeed 6:47 AM. "Oops. Sorry. I think I went to bed too early last night... But anyway, I have _crazy _news."

"Crazier than Puck shaving off his mohawk again?"

"Uh, much crazier than that."

Santana just knew that Brittany's eyes were as big as saucers. "Ohmigoodness. You have to tell me, then."

"Okay, so you know Morgan? Of course you know Morgan. You hung out with her yesterday. Never mind. No, not never mind, really. Actually, after that, we went to dinner. Like, as a date."

It took Brittany a while to get it. "So... Morgan's a fan of sweet lady kisses?"

Santana nodded, forgetting once again that there was nobody else in the room. "So she's my girlfriend now."

"But I'm your best friend who's a girl," Brittany whined.

"Of _course_ you're my best friend. I'll always love you, but... I need you as a friend more than I want you as a girlfriend. You're one of the best things to happen to me, and I don't want to ruin that."

Sounding like she was crying a little, Brittany asked, "So you're still going to have time for me?"

"There's no way I'm going to stop spending time with you. We'll just have Morgan with us sometimes, and I'll spend some time with her myself. And you can spend time with her if you guys want to. But don't try to, you know, have sex with her or anything."

"Oh yeah... 'Cause sex with a girl is just like sex with a guy, only with more vaginas."

"Something like that. Anyway, go back to sleep, Britt. I'll gush about last night to you when you wake up for real."

"'Kay kay!"

* * *

><p>Desperate times called for desperate measures. It was Sunday afternoon and time to resort to text messaging. Santana took twenty minutes to formulate the perfect text. The grammatical incorrectness was intentional, meant to convey a casual demeanor.<p>

Hey, morgan. Howre you?

Ten minutes later, Santana got her response: I'm busy. I told you that I'll see you tomorrow, and I wasn't just saying that. I'm sorry, Santana. How about a lunch date, if you have B lunch on Mondays? I have C other days.

Oh. So she was a texter of complete sentences. Santana amended her text messaging style: I can do Monday! However, I have B lunch every day. You'll at least be going for Glee, right? I'll put in a good word for you on Monday so you can zip in and everyone can fall in love with you.

What would I do without you? Anyway, I have to get back to studying. Bye~

* * *

><p>Monday couldn't come soon enough. And then Santana had to wait for lunch too. Urgh. She was so happy to see Morgan at lunch, that she hugged the younger girl before they could say a word to one another.<p>

"Well, hello to you too. I can infer that you missed me?"

"Fuck, yes. Do you have a place to sit yet?"

Morgan tapped Santana's side so she could be let go. As nice as a smothering hug was, she didn't want anybody getting the, well, right idea about things. "We could eat in the room you meet in for Glee, right? They only use that for club and team-building exercises, right?"

"Yeah, usually. Sometimes Kurt and Blaine or Rachel and Finn eat in there, but I'm sure they won't mind company."

"Ugh, Rachel."

Santana shrugged, moving to the cafeteria exit nearest their destination. "She gets the job done. We can always move."

It turned out it was just Kurt in there. He half-heartedly waved. "Well this is a surprise," he said without much enthusiasm. Kurt's attention was more focused on the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Just wanted to get away from the caf. Worried that someone might try to slushie Morgan again. You remember her, right?" Santana said as casually as she could manage.

"It's true," agreed Morgan. "I _barely_ dodged a frosh Cheerio's slushie this morning. It hit that creepy Jacob kid... Come to think of it, maybe I wasn't the target..."

Without looking at her, Kurt waved her off. "The slushies will keep on coming until the grave. Did either of you see Blaine in the cafeteria?"

"Nope," said Santana. To Morgan, she murmured, "We're not going to be able to get a good word out of him 'til Blaine gets back. More time for us."

* * *

><p>"It's so great that you could join us, Morgan," Mr. Schuester said pleasantly.<p>

Morgan grinned. "I've heard such good things about Glee from Brittany and Santana, and that meeting I sat in on was nice."

"Don't stress too much about the audition; it's more about vocal placement and getting to know who you are," he explained to her. To the club, he announced, "All right, everyone. We have another new member joining us today. This is Morgan Hanson, who we were briefly introduced to last week."

"Hi, everyone," Morgan said. "So... I'm going to sing "Smackwater Jack" by Carole King. You know, the one with the serial kill- You know what? I'll just shut up and sing now."

Morgan smiled, bordering on a smirk, before Brad started the first few chords. However hard she tried, Morgan couldn't stop herself from turning her most intense gazes in Santana's direction, even if the song lyrics were the furthest thing from sexy. Eventually, she decided to just have some fun with it and point out Kurt during the chorus. He seemed to have some fun with it and threw in some of the call-back harmonies in the bridge.

Afterwards, everyone applauded politely. Even Rachel, who looked like she was about to hiss at Morgan and bite her head off, offered some grudging applause. Morgan, for her own sake, went to the furthest seat possible from Rachel, which was thankfully next to Brittany.

Mr. Schue clapped to get the group's attention. "Excellent, Morgan! Now, did anybody do their homework and find some dance moves they're sure Vocal Adrenaline would never dare try?"

Santana didn't give a fuck about what Mr. Schuester was talking about. She got her girlfriend after school with her every other weekday, and she was a damn good singer.


	5. Bathroom?

A/N I've decided that Glee meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It doesn't make sense for them to meet every day, but once a week seems too few times for story purposes. I mean, episodically, it makes sense for once a week, but a week is a long time in fanfic time when people can get together in a snap.

And, uh, this isn't one of my best chapters. I promise better tomorrow.

jareaufan~ I feel like there's enough fully-fledged and awesome Brittana fics. This is a gingertana fic, so it's gonna throw the focus on them. :3

* * *

><p>"'Tana, I..."<p>

Sniffing mirthfully, Santana said, "Don't think I've never gotten that before. 'Tana.' I like it. Better than Santa."

Giggling, Morgan poked Santana's stomach. "You slimmed down some, Ms. Claus."

Santana swatted at her girlfriend. "Yeah, yeah. Dis the ex cheerleader. Speak for yourself."

"...What?"

"I don't know how you keep so slim. Gosh, Morgan, I hope it's not from stress." _She didn't have lunch with her yesterday, did she? A cheesestick doesn't count._

Morgan started, "I'm really not that ski-"

"No, yeah. You really are. Doesn't matter to me, though. It's your pretty face that made me notice you first. You have cute cheeks." Laughing, Santana moved to pinch Morgan's cheeks.

"Gah- no, stop it, 'Tana. That hurts! Hey... hey! You know I'm ticklish there! St-stop it!"

* * *

><p>Morgan felt a hand tugging on her sleeve. Santana wouldn't do something like that, and Brittany would be more urgent about it usually. "Hm?"<p>

"Morgan? Morgan? Coach Sylvester wants to see you."

It was the head cheerleader, Becky. Even if one wasn't trying to be judgmental, it was unusual that a girl with Down Syndrome was head of the Cheerios. Morgan, from the one football game a petulant friend had forced her to visit last year, was pleasantly surprised that Becky was just as competent as her fellow cheerleaders. And she was probably more capable, being inherently good-hearted. That didn't stop her from pledging the utmost loyalty to Coach Sylvester.

"Guess I have no choice but to follow you, right?"

"Right."

The walk down the hallways was quite awkward. Morgan really wanted to get back to APUSH, since the Civil War topics being discussed were more complicated than she had previously expected. Her mind was honestly buzzing more with laws crucial to the 1860's instead of what Sylvester could want from her.

"Get in there!"

"Uh... okay." Morgan let herself into the office. "You wanted to see me, Coach Sylvester?"

"You should call me Coach Sylvester, Morgan."

"...I just did."

Ignoring this, Sue continued, "Anyways, it has come to my attention that you are- dare I say it- a ginger."

"Yes, I am aware of this, as a matter of fact," Morgan said dryly.

"Well I find it offensive."

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "And you would like me to...?"

"Change it, shave it off, I don't care. It gives me an eyesore and reminds of that social worker who polishes her cookies before she can even look at them. Uck." Sue shuddered.

"I'm sorry, but that's really too much trouble. May I please go back to class?"

"I'm prepared to offer you a position on the Cheerios if you change. I've seen you dance and sing in Glee."

"I've been in Glee Club only twice and nobody else was in the room... I don't think that you can keep me in your office. I'm sorry I can't do what you want me to do, so I'll just show myself out, thank you very much." Morgan had to think that she was having a very weird beginning of the school year.

* * *

><p>After school on Friday, Morgan gave Brittany a quick hug. After that, she waved good-bye to Kurt, Blaine, and some of the other nice folks in Glee. Finally, she grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her out of the classroom.<p>

"Morgan? Hey, where are we going?" Santana asked.

"Guess," urged Morgan, pulling her along.

"I don't know. I can wait..."

"You don't have to wait long," Morgan said after a moment, pivoting to the right suddenly and pushing open the bathroom door. After looking back over her shoulder and seeing Santana's bewildered expression, Morgan mouthed, _'First Kiss'_. That sure got Santana's attention.

"Fuck yes."

"Ha, not yet, tiger," Morgan said, releasing her grip from Santana's hand. Turning on her come hither expression, Morgan cast her most intense gaze. "How do you want me, though? Against the wall?"

"Uh..." _That'd be nice_.

"You, then," said Morgan, putting her hands on Santana's shoulders and pushing her towards a fairly clean-looking bathroom wall. "I'm trying to be sexy. Indulge me and pretend I don't kiss like a spaz."

Santana smirked, enjoying Morgan's best effort at assertiveness. "Oh, I'll try." Nipping gently at her girlfriend's gently opened upper lip, she smiled further. Sensing the merest hint of resistance, Santana made to alleviate that. She pressed her lips against Morgan's. The other girl's lips were closed, but not shut unlock-ably tight. Morgan seemed nervous, and Santana knew emotions from kissing. She wasn't always proud of it, but Santana was quite the kissing expert. She pulled back for a moment and whispered, "Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you or do anything you don't want to."

"No, no..." Morgan murmured. "I do want this." As if to prove it, she pressed herself against Santana and kissed her with fervor.

Technique wasn't Morgan's strongest point, but Santana could say she could definitely kiss with some passion. There was potential there, but a good kiss wasn't just about how good technique was. In giving up her raucous sex life, Santana had reasoned that sex was more about being close to a person than making oneself feel good.

The creak of the bathroom door made both girls jump and look in the direction of the door.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asked immediately.

"Uh..." Santana was stuck for words.

"Well, what does it look like?" Morgan asked hopefully.

Quinn raised her eyebrows. "Like you two are very much enjoying yourselves. I take it you don't want me to tell anybody, and you're probably going to avoid me even more than you already do, shoot me a few awkward looks in Glee, etc?"

"Pretty much," Santana said. "You're really not that bad."

"Eh." Quinn shrugged. "I just know what it feels like to have your secrets told to the school. And really, telling everyone about you wouldn't give me anything to gain but two very angry enemies."

Morgan nodded. "Thanks, Quinn. Would you- Should we go somewhere else?"

"Yeah," Quinn said monotonously, eyeing the stalls. "I really do need to go, and I'm not comfortable knowing there's making out in the same general area. Have fun, don't bother me."


	6. Make Her a Get Well Soon Card!

A/N PlotPlotPlot. I don't have a plotted course for this fic yet. There's certainly a lot of ideas buzzing in my mind, though.

savetoniqht~ While you might not guess someone has an eating disorder by looking at them, one of the symptoms of anorexia is having a body weight 20% lower than is healthy. That doesn't mean that other eating disorders any less dangerous; it's just the named ones, particularly anorexia, get the most attention. Anorexia's especially frightening because of the body weight issue D:

* * *

><p>After that amazing Wednesday afternoon, Morgan claimed the next day via text that she was "busy" and wouldn't be able to see Santana outside of Glee until Monday.<p>

What, so your parents are making you do ANOTHER study group?

Yeah. :( It's just this one time, though. But I have homework and everything else to get through, and my mom's work is having this party like an hour away that I have to go to...

Morgannnn D: that's not fair. Tell your mom that she's taking her beautiful daughter away from her sometimes-clingy and always-bitchy girlfriend.

Aww, that's so sweet, Tana. I think. Anyways, I want to give Brittany a call before I start on this lit paper. I think she feels left out when we do coupley things.

Like kissing?

Like kissing. :3 Monday lunch is all for you. Meet me in the bathroom at the back of the school.

We cant eat in there.

We'll be doing better than eating ;) Now stop texting me, or I'm probably going to end up at your house and making everything awkward.

Santana couldn't help but worry that Morgan was side-stepping everything related to food. It was the Cheerios all over again, but much less regulated. At least with the Cheerios, she had needed to have enough energy to do all sorts of death-defying cheerleading stunts. Morgan was a perpetually stressed and (inexplicably) mostly friendless study-a-holic. It made Santana cringe to wonder what sort of environment fostered such unhealthy habits.

Alas, Morgan would probably get upset if anything disturbed her schedule. Santana would have to wait until next week to meet the parents or ask awkward questions. Lord knows she owed it to Morgan act in her best interests. Santana felt so happy and complete, really, when she was around Morgan. Maybe it wasn't true love or anything, but Santana was happier than she'd been in years. Morgan obviously was carrying a lot on her plate that she didn't want to let on yet.

...Something told Santana that she wasn't going to have an easy time staging an intervention between Morgan and not-eating.

* * *

><p>"Britt," Santana moaned, laying on her best friend's bed with her head hanging off of the side. "What do I do?"<p>

"What do you do what?"

"I need to do... to do... do something about Morgan."

Brittany furrowed her brow and tried to puzzle it through. "_Oh_, about the not eating thingy. You can't just tell her to eat things?"

"Not everyone puts things in their mouths because someone tells them to."

Giggling, Brittany covered her mouth. "Haha, San..."

Santana covered her face with her hands. "Oh no, I'm losing my touch. Whatever will I do? ...But in all seriousness, do you remember those girls fainting left and right on the squad? That one girl was in critical condition because she hadn't eaten for four days besides those crazy energy drink-whatevers Sue gave us. Think about that, but happening to Morgan, and nobody knows about it."

"So we can't help her? 'Cause we don't know?"

"No, no... I know. And now you do. But she's not going to want to listen to me if I just tell her to eat and stuff. She's, like, vulnerable and crap. I looked up eating disorders online. Pretty much everyone who had a legit eating disorder also had crazy low self-esteem. I'll bet she'll be defensive and think nothing's wrong. Like remember those implants I got last year?"

"Yeah," Brittany said solemnly, realizing this wasn't a fun conversation. It sounded kind of important. "They were all big and felt different."

"Everyone _knew_ they were fake because they were huge and staring them in the face. But people don't really know Morgan, and she's probably been dealing with this for years."

"Should we make her a get well soon card, San?"

Santana shrugged, which felt weird since she was upside down. "I mean, that's nice, but I don't think we want to freak her out and tell her how sick she is... That makes me realize, Britt, that I don't know what to do!" Santana sat up. "I really like her. Really, really like her. I can't stand thinking that she's hurting herself. God, Britt. I think sometime soon, I'll know that I love her, and then this is going to hurt me." _Or you've loved her since that first date, Santana, and you just don't want to freak her out anymore than she needs to be._

* * *

><p>Morgan made her presence known in the mostly empty girls bathroom with an impossibly sultry, "Hi," a deeply lustful gaze, and a series of impeccably timed kisses. The only thing that prevented Santana from relaxing completely was her certainty that lunchtime without lunch counted as especially suspicious. It still felt so good when Morgan playfully tried to figure out how tongues were really supposed to work. Santana attempted to guide her, but Morgan started to giggle when it really started to feel funny. And then Morgan tickled her, and all Santana could do was try not to fall down.<p>

"Whew," Santana sighed after she really did end up on the quasi-clean bathroom floor. "Help me up."

"My pleasure, m'lady," Morgan said, raising her eyebrows comically, bowing at the waist, and offering a stiff hand to Santana.

"Shut up," Santana said sweetly. She stood up easily enough. "Hey, can we talk? Just... I like talking to you, and I only got to see you in Glee. Friday was so hectic with those new duets. I mean, me and Puck? You and Colin What'shisface?"

"Warner, actually."

"Whatever. You rushed out afterwards, and I was missing you all weekend. Britt thought my goldfish had died."

"Do you have a goldfish?"

"Not at all. Anyway, Morgan, I kind of... maybe want to tell people about us? At least Glee Club, or maybe deal with my parents... or yours... You never really told me about your sexuality and your family and stuff."

Morgan sucked in a deep breath. "Um, let's sit on our backpacks." They did. "I have an Uncle. His name is James, and he's my dad's brother. Everyone has a gay uncle, I guess. Anyway, nobody ever really talked about him much. When I learned that he was pretty much married to this guy Brad, I thought that was why. You know, it was actually because he hadn't invited his family to the wedding. I was 13 or something when I figured this out, and was only just realizing that my minor obsession with the girl in front of me in 7th grade science was actually my first big crush. One day, I was feeling really awful, and just blurted it out to my older brother Joe. He... didn't care. At all. He mentioned it to my dad, and he just told me to focus on my studies. There would be time for boys or girls in college."

"That's... actually really cool."

"I didn't get to my mom yet," Morgan said bitterly. "So started those awful blind dates. I was expected to go on at least one a month. They all weren't awful, and maybe a couple of them were cute, but they were nothing like that girl. I just thought of her every time one of them grabbed my hand with their sweaty palms or got a bulge in their pants."

Making a face, Santana asked, "So what happened next?"

"That girl moved to Houston, and my affections shifted to the girl a couple seats over in art two days later."

"You move fast."

"I'm happy taking it slow now," said Morgan, brushing a stray lock of hair out of Santana's eyes. Chewing her lip, she let a moment pass. Needlessly, she said, "I like this. A lot."

"Would you want to tell Glee Club, then? I... don't think anybody would give me any shit if it was just Glee. Even the new kids that aren't you are kind of okay."

Morgan glanced to one side and thought about it for a moment. "Okay. I'd like to be able to hold your hand and maybe get to duet with you some time. It's not fair that Rachel and Finn get to be together. Again. Yeah, I saw those performances last year, and you told me what happened at Nationals."

"Today in Glee, then?" _Baby steps, Santana. Her dad might be the next step. I hope he likes me, if I get to meet him._

"I could fit that into my schedule."

Santana smiled. "Oh, hey, my mom made me this great lunch today. You have to try some of her rice. Don't tell me you're not hungry or you don't trust anybody with my blood who cooks. So good."

Only one reluctant moment passed before Morgan smiled herself. "Sure! If she cooks as well as you kiss, maybe I'll have to try some more..."


	7. Medieval Tapestries

A/N Heyo :3 I'm enjoying writing this muchly, but I'd still like a bit of feedback. As a self-conscious writer, I'd like to know if my language seems too passive, if I'm turning your favorite characters into unrecognizable monsters, or if I'm actually doing an okay job.

savetoniqht~ Yes, I agree. I wish Marissa could bring her awesome powers and experiences to this character. Weight's still only one of the symptoms of anorexia. But even after recovery, my mom says that you never actually are cured of your eating disorder. It's like alcoholism. So Marissa is essentially anorexic, still. She is healthier now and I'm sure a good deal more secure in herself, but I'm sure she's always going to have insecurities forever. It's good to talk through this, actually. It's giving me ideas on how to write for Morgan. Thanks!

* * *

><p>"Um... guys?" Morgan said, waving her hands at the front of the room. "Guys? I'm trying to say something!"<p>

"Would everyone just _shut up_!" Santana screamed at the whole Glee Club. They did so shut up. "That's better. Anyway, I- uh, we- It-" Okay, so maybe this talking thing is a little harder than I thought it would be.

Morgan pressed her lips together and decided to take the bullet for Santana. "We're dating. Me and Santana. We thought you should know, since she secretly loves you guys to death, and I like you all already. B-but could you not say anything outside of the club? Please? It's hard enough just saying th-this to you guys."

Tina put a hand over her mouth and glanced at Mike worriedly. That was probably the strongest reaction out of anybody, to the club's credit. Mostly, everyone was a little dumbfounded.

"Ah, um, well, congratulations?" offered Finn, probably thinking about the mailman.

"_Niiice_," said Puck. "Now we can discuss how hot our girlfriends are together!" Lauren swatted him affectionately, enough for it to hurt a little. Grinning, Puck nudged her shoulder back until they were in their own little playfighting world.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "_Really_, you had me thinking this was supposed to be a big secret?" Nonetheless, she gave a small smile and nod to Morgan.

Rachel had gotten a little sparkle in her eyes a moment ago, and had just rushed over to grab Santana's hands. Immediately, Santana recoiled, but Rachel had a surprisingly strong grip. "I've been wanting to hold a Gay LesBall for too long now, and have not been able to find enough supporters." Rachel glared at Kurt. "Make this happen."

"Rachel," Morgan said warningly, gripping one of Rachel's wrists herself. "Were you even listening when I said we wanted to keep this on the downlow?"

Blinking like she had just been brainwashed, Rachel said, "Oh. Right. It can wait." She scampered back to her seat, glancing at Blaine for a moment in transit.

Clapping her hands once, Santana said, "Well, now that that's out of the way, we bring you back to your original programming." Right then, Mr. Schue walked in and launched into his overeager everyday schpiel.

* * *

><p>"Date night on Saturday; I promise," Morgan said earnestly. "I'm sorry, Tana, I just have so much to do until then... My dad's project fell through, and he's... I have to study a lot. At this rate, I'll be taking five APs my junior year, and seven as a senior. I don't think McKinley even offers that many."<p>

"How many are you taking again? APs?" Santana asked skeptically.

"Three: AP US history, AP Bio, and AP Psych. Obviously, I don't get to be a normal person and get electives."

"Fuck, I'm only in Spanish, Calc, and Humanities _this _year. And I'm fluent in Spanish. What the hell were you thinking when you picked your schedule?"

Morgan raised her eyebrows. "Like I would get to pick out my own schedule! Blasphemy!" Half laughing and half crying, she hugged Santana. "God, I wouldn't even get art classes if they weren't required to graduate. You're just about the only thing keeping me sane."

"...Would it be too cheesy to say I'm the one who's not sane 'cause I'm crazy for you?" Santana did her best to press a kiss on Morgan's cheek from their not-so-convenient position. At least they felt warm.

"Yes, but I don't care. I _love _you and I don't care that we're at school fifteen minutes earlier than everyone else so we can do stuff." Morgan caught a glimpse of Santana's gaping expression. "What? You don't want to be here? What's wrong?"

"You love me."

"Oh. Yes. Did I say that? I don't want things to move too fast or anything, but it's true. I love you, and I don't care if you don't feel that way yet."

Santana grinned and cuddled into Morgan. "I've been wanting to tell you I've loved you for ages, even if it's only been a few weeks... I don't know what else I can say to show you how awesome I think you are."

"Aww, you're so sweet," Morgan cooed, burrowing her face into Santana's silky dark hair. "I don't want to have to go to class. Let me stay like this forever."

"I wish," Santana sighed.

* * *

><p>This time, Santana was totally prepared. They'd actually planned where they were going for date night together, so it wouldn't be a bad case of OverdressedUnderdressed: What the Fuck Am I Wearing? (The Show)... Sometimes, Santana thought she would be a great creator of lame semi-reality shows. Sometimes she also wondered what dolphin tasted like, but that was usually when she was under the influence of Brittany.

Anyway, they'd decided to take it more casual and carry out Chinese and sit outdoors. So even though Santana had come prepared with a tarp, a blanket, and heavy rain ponchos (just in case), she was still wearing her raggedy jeans that still made her butt look awesome with a plain black T-shirt. Santana had put her hair in a loose ponytail so it would stay out of her face when she wanted to do more important things. Wearing a ponytail, even if it was low and loose, still reminded her of the high ponytails pulled taut. Those had _hurt, _especially when she had stuck those razor blades in their for a while. Santana had given up on those a month and a half ago when Britt accidentally sliced open her palm trying to play wit a butterfly that landed in Santana's hair.

Breathing nervously, Santana knocked on the door and waited for an answer. To her surprise, it was a middle-aged man who opened the door.

"Hello? Who are you? I'm not buying any cookies from your little sister, if that's what you want."

_Sir, it's seven fricking thirty, _Santana wanted to say. _Who the fuck sells cookies door to door this late?_ But this was Morgan's dad. "I'm Santana, Mr. Hanson. Her friend. Is Morgan ready yet? We have plans, if she's not too busy."

"She's a little busy, yes," Mr. Hanson said stubbornly.

"Oh, wow, is that a real antique tapestry?" Santana asked suddenly. "My grandmother loves those. She has this book, and I've always wanted to go to Europe and see the ones that hung in castles." _Thank you, Grandma for boring me to tears for seventeen years._

"Well, it's not that old... It's an accurate replica typical of the style of Medieval times."

"It's still gorgeous. May I-?"

"Of course you can see," Mr. Hanson said, letting a little more emotion into his words than he probably would have liked.

Santana examined the tapestry. It was okay, but she'd seen better at museums with her grandmother. "Morgan never told me her parents had such good taste. She's never talked about anything like this."

"Oh, Morgan. She's a good girl, but does not appreciate decorative art like I would have liked."

"Really, Daddy?" Morgan said, coming down the massive spiral staircase.

"Yes, pumpkin." _Ugh, how sickening. My pet names are so much less harvest-y._ "Now, Santana was it? Make sure that my Morgan gets home by 11:30 PM, or I'll be calling your parents."

"Yes, sir. Of course, sir," Santana said, grabbing Morgan by the arm and moving towards the door. She couldn't help but think that Mr. Hanson was acting like this was a date or something, and she was some awful neighbor boy who'd done an okay job impressing the parents. Eh. She could take that, even if it didn't make sense.

"Have fun studying!"

Morgan closed the door quickly. "He likes you."

"I guess so. But he thinks we're studying?"

"Yeah... he knows- or thinks he knows- that we're going to be having some fun, but he expects production. This is why I had to work extra hard for the rest of the week. You're supposed to be _tutoring._"

Santana ran her fingers subtly over Morgan's temple. "Well, we should get down to business, study partner. What should we study today? I'll do my best to tutor you." She raised her eyebrows cheekily.

Morgan swatted Santana's shoulder. "Shut up, Tana."

"Make me," Santana dared, pursing her lips.

Snorting, Morgan said, "If you could only wait until we made it into the car..."


	8. Can't Do It

A/N I'm sorry if this isn't up 5/6/11, but my mom prevented me from accessing my computer for most of the day. Blarghl. I'm a little exhausted, so bear with the last half of this chapter.

DismantleMe~ I think that's one of the problems... Things are moving so, so fast that there's opportunity for everything else to change rapidly too. I'll try to keep the pace steadier, though, so it doesn't seem too out there. I've seen relationships start up and get complicated so fast and end just as rapidly. Usually it doesn't go so well D:

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><p>Santana didn't know how she did it, but Morgan convinced her that they didn't need to get a whole thing of Chinese food, seeing as they both had already eaten dinner anyhow. Morgan was game for, ice cream, though, and they both ended up with small cones to take to their stargazing date. Well... when the stars came. It was a little too early for sunset to come.<p>

"I can't believe you got _chocolate_," chided Morgan. "How?"

"What? What's wrong with chocolate?" Santana asked defensively. "I happen to like chocolate."

"It's for kids, though. Messy little kids who drip all over their shirts and stain them... You're leaking on the far end."

"Shit!" Muttering more expletives, Santana struggled to get her tongue over to the other side of the cone to stop the dripping from getting on her awesome butt jeans. This failed in twofold: her jeans did get dripped upon, and she got chocolate ice cream all over her mouth and nose.

"Guess you like chocolate a little _too _much, Santana. I'd lick it off, but I'd rather do this."

Santana could only laugh when Morgan pushed her cone into Santana's face. "Come on..."

"There, Tana. Now you probably taste halfway decent." After putting her cone to one side, Morgan leaned in and kissed Santana on the nose. "Mmm. Kind of."

"Tease," Santana said, rolling her eyes. Pointing at her general mouth-nose area, she said, "Fix it."

"Fix what?" Morgan asked innocently.

With faux exasperation, Santana exclaimed, "Do I have to do everything myself?" Licking her own lips, she simultaneously eyed Morgan's. Winking cheesily, she moved forward to take on Morgan's not-swollen-enough lips.

Morgan faltered for a moment, clearly uncomfortable with the stickiness or something else. Probably, she just felt too comfortable to let a kiss from Santana go. 'Cause _damn_ were those good kisses. If there was one thing Morgan got out of this relationship (besides, you know, happiness and a great friendship), it was some the experience of a really excellent kiss.

Santana pulled back for a moment and nipped at Morgan's bottom lip. "Sticky."

"Your fault."

"And yours."

"If you didn't kiss half so well, I'd be demanding a wet towel. Can you make everything that much hotter, Santana?"

With a smirk, Santana replied, "Rhetorical questions get you nowhere, babe."

"Sweet lady kisses do, though. I know that's not a book now." Morgan made to suck on Santana's upper lip, when Santana pulled away suddenly.

_She didn't eat her ice cream_.

"What?" Morgan asked, nudging Santana's shoulder. "You can tell me. What's bothering you?"

Santana wiped her hand across her mouth. "It's just..." _Oh, Jesus, she looks so helpless. Those eyes... _"Do you want to get cleaned up and do something else? I think it's going to rain, and that's not a fun way to get clean."

"Thank goodness. I was just waiting- well, hoping that you wouldn't call me 'vanilla face.'"

"Lame on more than one level. Let's leave before you start spouting worse."

* * *

><p>Morgan squirmed in the front seat of the car. "Santana, my dad's going to <em>kill <em>me if I get home late."

"It's not a big deal, Morgan. We'll be five minutes late, tops. We might even make it on time."

"No, Tana, I'm serious. I _knew_ we shouldn't have seen that movie!" Nervously, Morgan grabbed onto the handle in the front seat. Holding on as if for dear life, she said. "Could you drive any faster?"

"Not if I want this old bat to get to grave sooner. I may be a bitch sometimes, but I'm no murderer."

Slumping in her seat, Morgan still gripped the handle tightly. She muttered, "This was a mistake. I shouldn't have- I'm so _tired_ and what if he notices something? I could... Oh, am I thinking aloud?"

"Yeah, it's okay. I think everyone talks to themselves sometimes. Brittany has whole conversations with herself sometimes. I've joined in before, actually, just to see what would happen. And I was the one who ended up confused."

Morgan looked over at Santana. "She's a really great friend, isn't she?"

"The best," Santana said without thinking.

"Oh. Right."

Santana turned and caught Morgan's eye for a second. "Morgan, she's my best friend, but you're my girlfriend. I need you both in my life to be happy. I love you, but I love her too. It's... different." _It didn't always feel that way, though, did it?_

"Kurt said you used to have sex together."

"Well how would he know that?"

Morgan shrugged. "They used to date or something? I can't imagine Kurt without Blaine, though. They're about as couple-y as Tina and Mike."

"What, we're not couple-y?

Letting the silence have its turn, Morgan waited before saying. "Just drive."

* * *

><p>"So did you tell her?"<p>

"No," Santana said curtly. "She always looks so innocent. I don't want to hurt her or anything."

"But you said she was hurting herself."

"Yeah, Britt, but she said she had dinner, and I even checked with her dad about it."

Brittany asked, "Why were you talking to Mr. Morgan's Dad about dinner?"

"...I'm trying to get him to like me, so I'm making an effort to have conversations with him. Especially since I managed to get his daughter home on time and my knowledge of old tapestries, he's willing to give up some weird information."

Brittany would have liked to twirl a phone cord like in those 90s movies. If this was the 90s, Brittany was sure she would be a very happy camper. Santana seemed kind of like an 80s girl, and Morgan might have been the 60s or 70s? There was this documentary on TV a couple hours ago, so Brittany knew a lot about years, clothes, and things for now. "You should ask him if Morgan's grandparents are at the nursing home I go to."

"Britt, I've been meaning to ask, why do you go to that nursing home?"

There was a pause. "You know, I really couldn't tell you. But they have really good Jello cups."

_That answers that question_, Santana thought sarcastically. "Seriously, though. I can't help Morgan on her own. All I know is that her parents are crazy competitive with universities and stuff. And she has like no time."

"Maybe she doesn't have time to eat?" Brittany put in helpfully. "That would make sense."

"I know she's busy, but she could carry around a granola bar or something. I don't know."

"Well, I'm confused, San. Can we talk about this later? My cat broke the new cable lock on my computer.

_Figures_. "You go wrestle with Lord Tubbington, I'm going to learn more about eating disorders with the totally reliable internet."

"Kay kay! Have fun!"


	9. Are You Gonna Eat That Pickle?

A/N I'm all grouchy or something. This is mostly a calm before the storm chapter with Glee stuffs. The next chapter's going to be a doozy.

You can find the original cast version for the song featured in this chapter on grooveshark or elsewhere.

I've gotta thank savetoniqht now, but the help they've given me won't come into play until next chapter and majorly. Thank you!

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><p>Pinning a label on someone could feel empowering... but only because you were putting the other person down. Santana was game for putting down jerkfaces and people who pissed her off, whether or not they deserved it. 'Cause yeah, Santana was not a complete monster, but she was no angel. However, having to pin her girlfriend as "sick" and "unstable" just did not have much appeal.<p>

She could only imagine how much fun it would be to go up to Morgan and say, 'Hey, did you know that you have a major problem? That you're _hurting yourself_ and _fucking crazy_.' Okay, so maybe those weren't exactly labels, but bearing lots of insults sucked as much. No, she had to take a better approach to this. It would break Morgan's heart, probably, to hear Santana break the bad news to her, especially because it was her.

But it had to be her, didn't it? Morgan would get suspicious if Brittany managed to figure it out on her own, and a Glee-wide intervention would be a betrayal of trust. _Jesus_, this was hard.

That Monday, Morgan was leaning into Santana's shoulder _just so_. Santana wanted to cry, she was so conflicted. It probably wouldn't seem too out of place, because two freshmen were singing a trainwreck of a duet. When you were in a Glee Club with people of varying skillsets, you had to learn how to be polite when the time called for it.

Morgan seemed to master this skill quite well for a newcomer. Unlike Finn, who showed every minute change in emotion on his face, Morgan seemed perfectly at ease. Apparently happy to let Santana stroke her hair as they watched, she seemed the epitome of a normal and sweet fifteen year old girl.

Eventually, it was Morgan and Santana's turn to sing. Mr. Schue had conceded that choosing pairings for everyone hadn't been as cheering as he would have hoped. In a moment of Schuester's greatest weakness, Rachel and Santana collaborated just once so they could choose their partners. Santana's fun experience arguing over Amy Winehouse's Jewish-ness had not been particularly productive. Now, Santana sent Rachel a respectful nod before turning to the accompanist. "Hit it, Brad."

A syncopated and understated piano accompaniment started up. Already really into it, Morgan tapped her thigh for a few bars before they both launched into the first line of "What Kind Of Girl is She?" from [title of show]. Nobody had expected a number like that to be the girls' choice, but Morgan thought it was too funny a song not to go with. Santana still didn't really understand what the song was about in context, but she knew it was about competition and not knowing someone too well. It was about _acting_, and Santana felt like she was doing that a lot.

Morgan was on Heidi's part, and Santana was on Susan's, and the latter was glad for it up to a point. Those higher little chest voice riffs were all Morgan's department, and Santana couldn't help but feel proud of her girl.

There was always this one part near the end of the song that really made Santana wish they had switched parts:

"She's got those eyes." "She's got them boobs." "I've got these thighs!" "I need your shoe!"

Surely, the song was absolutely hilarious when anyone else sang it, but Santana didn't like for Morgan to be sing/saying that bit about the thighs. She wished that this was just a fun song, but... Ugh...

Santana got through the song just fine, but she still felt a lingering sense of worry afterwards. Most of the club was chuckling at their song choice. What had they been expecting? A lovey-dovey duet? How many girl/girl duets did they think there were? And why did Rachel and Mercedes have to take the one big lesbian duet out there? Morgan loved Rent, and it was irritating for Santana to have to deal with the fact that Glee Clubbers had this unspoken rule about not performing numbers twice. Unless they were singing something by Journey, there were no repeats.

Shyly, Morgan took Santana's hand after the applause subsided and lead them back to their seats. "I'd like to kiss you now," Morgan whispered. "But then we'd probably get too distracted. So I owe you one." Squeezing Santana's hand, she turned her head forward.

_Oh, Jesus, she's blushing. It's not like half the Club isn't still staring at her. And why not? She's fucking gorgeous and overall amazing and perfect. Or... not so perfect. Better than good enough for me, though. _Santana snarled at Artie and that frosh Collin. Yeah, they were too scared to pay Santana any looks, but they were bold enough to ogle Morgan. She was about to nudge Morgan and inform her that she was being watched, but it looked like she had already realized that if the further blush on her face was any indication. Another gnash of Santana's teeth, and they sure weren't looking anymore.

Speaking of the other club members, where was Brittany? While Mercedes and some guy were moving chairs around to use in their duet, Santana looked around for her Britt Britt. Hm... Oh, there she was! Across the room, apparently flirting with some freshman boy. The boy seemed to have a girlfriend, though, so the two younger kids looked a little flustered._ Poor Britt... I should help her out._

Froshy boy you're hitting on's girlfriend is giving you evil eye. come sit with me and morgan, Santana texted.

ohh thats whjy hes playing hard to get.

Frowning, Santana showed her phone to Morgan. "You tell her something..."

"I don't even know how to use your phone!"

"Oh, fine, just call her over or something. She only listens to me when I'm right next to her, Morgan."

Morgan looked uncomfortable as she hissed across the room, "Brittany! Britt! Come here!"

Apparently that worked better than yelling. Santana was no good at doing anything more delicate than whispering to the person right next to her or screaming across the room.

Brittany scampered over. "Ooh, what'd I miss?"

"Sit next to me, Britt," said Morgan affably. "We can watch Mercedes and John do their duet, okay?"

"Okay!"

_Well that was easy._


	10. Warmth

A/N Hi, guys. I got kinda sick for a bit. Hopefully you all didn't lose interest or anything! I'd like to say I spent these last few days writing, but I've been mostly feeling yucky and overtly emotional. Not that it's unusual for me to be moody.

* * *

><p>What wasn't easy? Pretty much everything.<p>

Santana hadn't expected Morgan to fall asleep almost as soon as they broke into the nurses' office straight after Glee. A few minutes of heavy making-out were followed by an indeterminate amount of cuddling. Morgan's scent was somehow a little woodsy, a bit like maple syrup and trees after it rained. Scent exploration kept up until Santana realized her girlfriend was no longer conscious. _She did seem exhausted, but I feel like she's always a little tired. She's so beautiful when she's sleeping, though. I could just lose myself in her, and didn't I nearly?_

Smiling gently, she ran a tentative hand down Morgan's side. Her breath caught in her throat when her hand moved down towards Morgan's waist. _I think I can feel all of her ribs, and I'm barely touching her. Oh, Morgan, what are you doing to yourself?_ Santana felt like crying, but she did not want to wake Morgan up. By now, she was getting the feeling that her girlfriend was starving herself of both food and proper rest. It scared her. _How much longer can she be with me without breaking down? Is she spending what valuable time she has with me?_

Forbidding any tears from falling, Santana nuzzled into Morgan and tried to be the best blanket that she could. If they couldn't be awake together, the two of them could at least stay physically close. It was not long before the warmth of the body next to her and the inferior quality of the office's air conditioning lead her to sleep, as well.

* * *

><p>A dreamless sleep was interrupted by stirring next to Santana.<p>

"Tana?" A yawn. "What time is it?"

"I don't know," Santana said, somehow both sighing and mumbling simultaneously. "My phone... should be on desk. But come back. You're warm."

Santana's still half-asleep arms tried to pull Morgan back towards her. However, Morgan was somewhat more awake than her girlfriend, and managed to escape with enough ease. Whimpers did nothing to bring Morgan back. For now, Santana was mourning the lack of intimacy and warmth. Ehh, mostly she was missing the warmth.

"Seven."

"What?"

"Santana, it's seven PM."

Yawning, Santana asked, "What's wrong with seven PM?"

"I have to go home! Why didn't you wake me up? How'd I end up asleep? Take me home! Please! My parents are g-going to kill me."

"Relax," Santana urged, still half-wondering where the nice warm body went. She took a moment while Morgan fretted about the nurse's office, looking for her possessions. Okay, now. She was back into this. "It'll be fine, Morgan. See, I was helping you rehearse so you might be able to sing at sectionals this year. Just because singing is fun doesn't mean that it isn't a good resume builder."

Helplessly, Morgan knelt down to the bed and clung to Santana's arm. "But we _weren't_ practicing. I was sleeping. I don't have time to sleep! I have at least five more hours of homework to get through, and I-"

"Shh," Santana said as she propped herself up and planted an awkwardly-positioned kiss on Morgan's lips. "You need to sleep enough in order to succeed in school. I promise that this wasn't wasted time. Your parents might not think of sleep as important, but I took a peek at your AP Psych textbook. There's like a whole chapter on sleep. Maybe I didn't get very far past the table of contents, but I'm pretty sure you need to get more than five or six hours of sleep a night with your level of stress."

Scowling, Morgan said indignantly, "My parents? My level of stress? I'm not stressed. My family's just _fine_!"

_Denial's not just a river in Africa... Shut up, Santana. Get serious._ "I don't think so, Morgan."

"Then what are you saying, Santana? Tell me what's so awful about my family."

Santana took Morgan's hand. The other girl tried to tug her hand away, but Santana had some solid gripping skills. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think that you're trying too hard to impress them." _Where are these words coming from? How do I know they're true? What if I've made a horrible mistake and she's really just that disciplined a student. Maybe she's just thin and can't help it, or she has some sort of disease that I'm not supposed to ask about. But... why wouldn't she tell me these things? I tell her everything about me, now that there's not much to hide. Well, except for this. How I've known- thought- that she's been trying too hard to be the perfect, beautiful, thin (straight?) daughter?_

"You don't know anything about me," Morgan said spitefully, still tugging at Santana's grip around her hand. "I'm happy with my mom and dad. They love me."

"I know they love you," Santana said, starting to get impatient. "But they have to be blind not to notice how you're _hurting _yourself. Have you taken a look in the mirror lately, Morgan?"

Morgan looked like she wanted to bite Santana's head off and then bawl in the corner for hours. "I... have..."

"Well did you know that you're too fucking thin!"

"I'm not!"

"Like hell you're not," Santana said, releasing her grasp so she could clench both of her hands in fists. "I really fucking care about you, okay? It kills me that you're hurting yourself."

"Don't-"

"You never eat when you're with me. You make excuses. You're so, so insecure."

"I don't have to listen to this, you know. I could just leave right now." She didn't move.

"Every time I want to do something that involves food, you get out of it somehow. Lunchtimes: you just want to make out. The picnic: no Chinese food, just ice cream, and you smashed that in my face. Breadstix: Who are you? Seriously. Nobody can eat just two breadsticks."

Morgan sobbed. "I didn't want to tell you..."

"Well I already knew."

"Not that," cried Morgan. "It's not true- I'm not too thin. Not when you're... I... I have food allergies. To corn. It's... I thought I was growing out of it last year, finally. And it's better now, but I'm still trying to avoid a lot of foods. Pretty much everything has corn in it, and I d-didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

Santana didn't buy it. "So you don't bring lunch to school? I can still feel your ribs."

"It hasn't been easy... I'm reworking my whole diet, and I never know whats going to make me sick or not anymore. I just want to be _normal_, Tana. I just don't want to end up in the bathroom after I can't tolerate any more food. Can't you just believe me?" Morgan, head turned downwards, purposefully cast her gaze upwards into Santana's eyes. "I'm allergic to so much much, it's a wonder I can even stomach food."

That look was absolutely perfect to win back Santana's heart after that fight, but the head-strong (literally) part of Santana still couldn't believe this. "i'm sorry I didn't ask you before. I was just worried."

Yawning through some stray tears, Morgan asked, "Santana, I've got such a headache. I promise we'll talk about this the next time I see you. I just... didn't want you to think I didn't want to go eat with you. It's so hard, working around my tolerances."

"Okay," Santana agreed grudgingly. "But only because you promised."


	11. Perfect

A/N I should not be allowed to write chapters when I'm half asleep already. I swear to Frank (whoever he is), I was so out of it when I wrote the last chapter. And I've been so busy, guys. I'm sorry for delaying the release of this chapter D: It's Morgan's, finally, so hopefully her perspective is fresh.

Pipinator89~ Search this: 'The Glee Project' Looks for New 'Glee' Guest Star. In my opinion, Marissa had a really shitty week if you count being drenched four times as many slushies as the other contestants. Really, how are you supposed to be your best when you've got half the song to sing learn by yourself and slushie upon slushie pouring upon you?

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><p>Morgan was kicking herself inside all the way home. <em>Food allergy? You couldn't have done better than that? She's probably going to burst out laughing the second I leave this car, if not any minute.<em> Glancing over quickly, she managed to meet Santana's eye. _Fudge! She's smiling. It's not funny; she just wouldn't understand if I really explained things to her. I don't really have a problem. I'm **fine**. Why can't anybody understand that?_

_I've never had to explain myself before like this. Nobody got close enough to start asking too many questions. Little white lies were so easy, but it's different now. My parents don't care. No... They care. They love me because I can get good grades, and I'm going to go to an Ivy League school, and I'm going to be rich and successful and beautiful. They- they just want me to succeed, obviously. If I want to be worthy of their support, I just have to be better than great._

_Santana doesn't understand. She likes me how I am, and I have to work so hard to be this way. I bet she would leave me if I stopped putting in the effort. I don't think I could take it if she rejected me. I'd just have to... be better._

Eyes shining with barely-restrained tears, Morgan looked over at Santana again. "I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too, Morgan."

The redheaded girl smiled. _That... has to be enough, then. For me._

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><p>The ceiling never changed, but Morgan always got a different number when she counted the cracks up there. At some point, the little speckles and fractures swirled together, and all everything was dizziness and confusion. Her head hurt and her mood was bound to change at any moment, but she was not going to give in to the temptation of food. It was absolutely normal to feel like this. No pain, no gain, right? That's what her father always said.<p>

Frustrated by her headache and unwilling to do any more studying for the night, Morgan rolled over and closed her eyes. Her eyelids flickered when the dying bulb in her lamp pulsated. _Darnit_, that didn't feel nice. Opening one eye half way, she moved her arm and fumbled to turn off the offending lamp. There. That was better.

Or maybe it wasn't really. Morgan was stuck all alone with herself and her thoughts. She could not say that she much enjoyed her own company, seeing as she always felt like she couldn't win even in her own daydreams.

_'Do you want to have sex, Morgan?' Santana might ask._

_Morgan might get all flustered. 'I... d-didn't we talk about this, Tana? I don't... I'm not comfortable with-'_

_'C'mon,' this Santana would push. She'd probably grab Morgan's wrist until it hurt, which wasn't very long at all. 'Brittany would do anything I asked her to. It's no wonder I prefer her company to yours. She's perfect. Have you **seen **her, Morgan? God.'_

_'Santana! Santana... I-I love you,' Morgan would plead. 'Just... I'm not ready.'_

_'What does it matter that you **love **me? What will love do to make me feel good?'_

_'I- I-' Morgan never could think of an answer, and Santana would stalk off, presumably to find ever-willing Brittany._

This fantasy (although it sure wasn't an appealing one) or thoughts along those lines came to mind at least once a day, if not more. It sent her now into silent sobs. She hated pitying herself like this, but she was so afraid that Brittany or some other girl would sweep up Santana and they'd ride together toward the sunset on llamas or something. Most likely "or something".

In all seriousness, Morgan put on a brave face whenever she discussed her (lack of a) sex life, saying that everything was okay. Her voicing of discomfort went only as far as her expression of celibacy for the time. She did want to have Santana make her feel good physically and reciprocate, but there was just so much that could go wrong that she couldn't control.

There was always the Brittany issue. Morgan adored Brittany from the first time she met her, but she was starting to become jealous of the close relationship she shared with Santana. Of course she wanted Santana to have friends, but Brittany was pretty much Santana's soulmate, no matter their relationship status. Recently, Morgan had taken to avoiding Brittany, since interacting with the sweet blonde only made things feel more painful. The pain stung in two ways: the budding friendship Morgan had with Brittany suffered as a result of these feelings, and Brittany came with Santana like a package deal. You couldn't be in love with Santana and not give Brittany her due.

It wasn't Brittany's fault, but sometimes a particularly irritable Morgan would have to fight the urge to snap at Brittany's more airheaded moments. Something like that would never bother her with a normal friend. But all these feelings and Santana and headaches just made everything more painfully confusing.

..._Why couldn't I be a normal girl and find a nice boyfriend who isn't so perfect and doesn't deserve the best? I just had to fall in love with the most gorgeous girl in the whole school and have the dumb luck for her to say she loves me too. It feels too real to be true, so I can't mess this up._

* * *

><p>They're all in Glee Club now, and Rachel and Finn have <em>another <em>big duet that utilizes the rest of the club as back-up. Morgan's swaying in the background next to Kurt, who's her partner for today. He's got her hands on her waist, and Morgan's terrified that he's going to say something about her ribs (which are perfectly fine, thank you very much) after the big lift. He doesn't, though. Just gives her a smile when he puts her down, followed by a millisecond of confusion, probably at her flustered expression.

The last thing that Morgan needs right now is sometimes-petulant Kurt Hummel asking her way too many questions. Helplessly, she looks over at Santana, who is having a very lukewarm partnering experience with Artie. Actually, they look like they want to murder each other as they go through the song. Morgan counts herself lucky that she hasn't made any enemies in Glee Club more dangerous than Rachel Berry. And Rachel doesn't seem to realize that Morgan is not fond of her. Oh, Rachel.

Out of Glee Club was a whole 'nother ballpark. Sue Sylvester still had it out for her, and Morgan had to wear a poncho when walking through the halls at all hours to avoid slushie-related discomfort. Really, having red hair and not wanting to join the Cheerios didn't sound like a good reason to torture someone.

Most things in life were torture enough now. Losing herself in Santana's arms wasn't even easy anymore, since she was so afraid that Santana would call bull on her stretching of the truth. Plastering a smile on her face, Morgan followed the song immediately by shoving through the classroom in Santana's direction. Maybe she knocked over a couple of chairs in the process, but Santana seemed glad enough when Morgan pressed their lips together and then offered up her best sweet smile.

Someone laughed behind them, and there were a few awkward coughs. Morgan didn't care so much when she pulled away. Perhaps losing herself in Santana's arms was a challenge, but her lips were another story.

Chewing her lower lip, Morgan cast her gaze downward so it passed over Santana's beautiful (clothed) breasts. She _wanted_ to touch those, but now just wasn't the right time.

...Second base wasn't everything, right? Maybe she'd feel better if she allowed herself to try this. Santana would be game, right?

A playful swat on Morgan's arm made her look back up (well, still down. Santana was a couple inches shorter than her). Hm. Well that answered that question. Right?


	12. Want You, Need You

A/N Thank you, lovely reviewer folks! Obviously still wishing that Marissa still manages to make it on Glee. So i share your sentiments, dmpanda5.

Pipinator89~ Yeah, I'd been looking for that version of the interview for weeks. The other later ones don't mention the sixth week.

savetoniqht~ Thank you as always for your support. I'll try not to make you wait so long!

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><p>Not in a million years (well, at least like two) did Santana expect Morgan to say <em>that <em>to her. It was after Glee again, like most of their meetings. There had only been enough time to wave good-bye to Brittany quickly before Morgan pulled her down a deserted hallway. With a shove against the wall- it didn't hurt or anything, and Morgan wasn't _that _aggressive- she was pinned and absolutely smothered in affection.

"Couldn't… resist… long… enough," Morgan murmured between kisses. "Want you… Need you…"

This was actually a little scary to Santana. Even if Morgan was more of a femme fatale than most would expect, she was still a sweethearted virgin with at least a few stress-worthy issues. Santana couldn't complain about her girlfriend being frigid, but this was unusually hardcore. Panting now that she was starting to get seriously into the mood, Santana gripped Morgan's sides like there was no tomorrow. How could Morgan know she liked being bitten _just there_ on her neck? Holy fuck.

Morgan pulled back suddenly and smiled enigmatically. _Oh, God, now what?_ Santana wondered, pressing her bitten lips together in anticipation. Her question was answered quickly when a suddenly more tentative Morgan pulled her hand away from Santana's shoulder and moved it over her breast. "May I…?" she asked. She started chewing her lip in that adorable way that made Santana feel even more breathless.

Nodding wordlessly, Santana looked downward to see Morgan snake a hand up her shirt to palm her breast. They'd touched through clothes and cuddled like puppies before, but Santana could not know how Morgan would take this. Inhaling slowly, she felt betraying, nervous hands caress what her bra did not cover.

It took a long time for Morgan to do anything further than touch Santana's chest and drum her fingers over it. So long, that Santana had to ask, "Morgan, are you okay?"

"Y-yes," Morgan replied, pressing her palm on Santana's chest. "I'm enjoying myself. I… I want to do more tonight. E-everything."

Santana moved a hand to cover where Morgan's hand was under her shirt. "We don't have to do this if you're uncomfortable."

Looking like she was about to cry, Morgan leaned into Santana and said to her shoulder, "No, I want to do this. I want to make you happy."

"We've talked about this, though, Morgan," Santana said, laying a hand on the other girl's back. "We don't have to have sex right now to be happy. I don't want either of us to regret this."

"But I love you," Morgan said flatly.

"I love you too, but... I don't feel comfortable going all the way with you yet. You're only fifteen."

"Sixteen in a month and a half. Tell me you were older than me when you f-first had, you know, sex."

That made Santana have to think for a moment. "You're right. I was fourteen. And I do regret it, but then I've never loved anyone as much as I love you."

Morgan clenched her hands into fists. One hand was still stubbornly under Santana's shirt, but the other tightened around Santana's wrist. The older girl tried not to show the pain via her face or body. "What about Brittany?"

_What about Brittany? You do love her too, you know. Just differently. Haven't you already told her that?_ "She's my best friend."

"You had sex with her. I… I don't really think that's what best friends do." Sobbing, Morgan leaned further into Santana, enough that she was starting to feel heavy.

"I- She- This isn't about Brittany. Not really. Just, I don't want our first time to be because you think you have to compete with her. Because you don't. I'm not going to choose between you. I'm always going to have time for Brittany-"

"Yeah?" Morgan interrupted. "Really!"

"Let me finish! I will and I can spend time with her. Brittany means a lot to me, no lie. So you can't be all up in my face about her. We will have sex someday, but not right now when you're trying to compete with someone who really doesn't give a fuck. Seriously, Morgan. When have you ever known Brittany be anything but awesome to you?"

"…She still has sex with random guys. She told me."

Santana lightly pulled Morgan off of her and held her up by her shoulders. Right now, she needed her girl to look into her eyes. "Don't spring stuff on me like this. I mean, you're fucking sexy when you get all aggressive, but you freaked me out with the whole, 'hey, let's have crazy sex now, okay?' deal. Let's talk about this sort of thing first."

Morgan looked like she wanted to say something really sweet and understanding for a second, but she burst into tears instead. Worried, Santana, pulled her in closer. "Morgan? Hey, what's wrong?"

"You make it so..." Sob. "Hard to..." Sob. "Hate you. _Fuck_."

Santana didn't know Morgan to swear very often, so she could only think to pat her back awkwardly. "Uh, thanks. I guess. Do you want to get smoothies or something before you have to go home? I know you lie about when Glee ends, but I'd like to end our time together on a nice note before you have to go back to studying."

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><p>It was hard for Santana to look at her girlfriend the same way as before, knowing that she had wanted to have sex for some really shitty-seeming reasons. Now Morgan was nursing her (assuredly corn-free flavor) smoothie quietly through a solid plastic purple straw, occasionally glancing up and smiling shyly at Santana. Her eyes still showed signs of a good cry, red and tired-looking. Finding it difficult to return those smiles easily, Santana faked it, and her cheeks were starting to hurt.<p>

She didn't want to be alone with her thoughts, and it freaked her out to leave Morgan all alone after what went down just an hour ago. After a while of silence, Santana reached her hand out to cover Morgan's. Trying not to shudder because the other girl also had her hand on her chilly cup, Santana said, "Do you want to come over to my house after this?"

Raising her eyebrows in confusion, Morgan asked immediately, "Why? I thought you didn't want to do anything like that?"

_Well, shit, that came out wrong._ Quietly enough that most people wouldn't be able to hear, Santana clarified, "No, I mean to actually study. I am capable of spending time with you without trying to suck face."

Laughing weakly, Morgan agreed, "Sure. That would be... nice. Let me call my parents?" She pulled out her bookbag and went rifling through the pockets immediately in search of her cell phone.

Taking a deep breath in, Santana nodded stiffly. "If... Maybe you could meet my dad?"

Morgan stopped her phone-hunting. "As your-"

"Yes? I haven't done this before, not with my parents. They were totally cool when I had boys over, so long as my door was open when they were home."

Pulling out her cell, Morgan grimaced. "Shouldn't you maybe let your dad get accustomed to the idea of his daughter being a lesbian? You don't make it sound like he knows what's going to hit him."

"I know it's crazy, but my mom's at work, and my brothers are at basketball. I think he'll like you, and you can introduce yourself as my friend if you want." _Brittany's certainly over often enough. My parents just don't adore Britt because she keeps trying to speak Pig Latin when they start bickering in Spanish. Dad will at least think Morgan's well-mannered. And pretty. I sure hope Morgan takes French, otherwise she's going to be blushing like crazy..._

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><p>AN Please don't freak out on me if our girls seemed really crazy this chapter. I am an emotional and moody person, myself, so I can and may feel as moodswingy as Morgan.


	13. Always

A/N So... maybe I lied and made everyone wait again. D: I'm in my second year of college, and I'm really busy. Homework plus my renewed social life are seriously sapping my time. I have not abandoned this story, but I don't know when updates will occur. This will not have too many more chapters, though.

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><p>"So... don't say anything in a language that isn't English, 'cause my Dad will get pissy. Unless you speak fluent Spanish, that is... You don't, right?"<p>

"No, 'Tana. I'm taking French. Don't worry. I'm good with parents. I think."

Santana flexed her fingers anxiously. "Seriously, Morgan, I want him to meet you and everything, but he's super judgmental. And, well, you know, I don't want him to get distracted by stupid things when he's supposed to be getting to know you." Frowning, she glanced at the front door through her car's windshield. "Just... I love you, even if things go rough tonight. Wait in the car until I signal?"

Chewing her lip, Morgan nodded.

After a shaky deep breath, Santana kissed Morgan on the cheek and made her way to the front door. Her breaths continued to pattern irregularly as she pounded on her own front door. Mr. Lopez insisted that everyone who came into the house when he was present enter this way, even his own family. Security or something.

"Who is it?"

"It's Santana, Daddy." Best to play the daddy's little girl card, she decided.

"Ana! Come in." He opened the door and beamed.

Obviously her dad was ridiculous right now, but at least the positioning worked to her advantage. "Um... Daddy, there's someone that I want you to meet."

"Oh?" Mr. Lopez raised his eyebrows, ideas obviously running through his mind. "Who might that be?"

"Please don't be mad, but I've been hiding something from you... I- I like girls. I really like girls. A-and I know it was wrong to date behind your back, but I didn't think you'd ever accept me. And- Daddy, she's really, really wonderful. And beautiful. 'Cause, you know... I'm not going to be your daughter and have bad taste."

Mr. Lopez's lips got very, very thin. "Don't tell me that you've been sleeping with her."

Santana shook her head vehemently. "_No,_ no way. We haven't even been together for that long. Less than a month. I promise, though. You'll like her. She's in my car. Could you give her a chance?"

Sighing, Mr. Lopez looked conflicted. "Yes, don't leave her in the car. What's this... girl's name, Ana?"

Over her shoulder she glanced back at the car and gestured for Morgan to come. "Morgan. Hanson. She's a sophomore, and is probably going to end up her class's valedictorian. Pretty much everything she does is amazing. Daddy, I really care about her, and she makes me want to be a better person. _You_ know how I can get. I mean, I'm never going to be anybody's pushover, but she's just so _good_."

"Y-you're not talking about me, are you?" Morgan asked, simultaneously coming off as earnest and self-conscious. Averting Santana's dad's eyes, she said, "I- oh- um... hello, Mr. Lopez. I'm Morgan Hanson. Ah, um, I don't know if you've gotten that far, but I'm Santana's girlfriend, and, oh, um... please don't take her away from me. She's the best part of my life right now and I- I- I-" Blushing furiously, she tried to hide her head behind Santana's, which would have worked better if Morgan wasn't taller by at least three inches.

"It's okay, Morgan," said Mr. Lopez tentatively. "I can tell that you're not going to do anything to Ana. Why don't you both come inside?"

Morgan immediately grabbed at Santana's hand for support before walking in. The house was gorgeous, she observed. Even though Santana was only likely upper-middle class, whoever decorated this place really knew what they were doing. A few well-framed portraits adorned the walls. Along with younger versions of Santana and Mr. Lopez were two boys who looked a lot like their sister, and a woman. Curiously, the children all looked primarily Hispanic like their father, but their mother looked to be of mixed race. Hm. Santana's adorable nose was all Mrs. Lopez's. Morgan decided that she liked this family, and that they looked happy with one another. If they would accept Morgan was another question.

Mr. Lopez gestured for the couches. "Sit down, girls."

They did so, Morgan quivering in anticipation of something not-so-good.

"Santana, tell me. Why did you think you had to hide from me, and keep this sweet girl a secret? It really is all right, Morgan, not to be nervous. I'm not going to bite. This is just a lot to take in for a guy getting on in age..."

"_Dad_, you're not that old," Santana said, rolling her eyes.

Mr. Lopez shrugged. "Ah, well. I wondered sometimes whether I would have to have this talk about Brittany, and it scared me, Ana. You're my youngest, my baby girl. I, well, I came to terms with the chance I might have to accept three daughter-in-laws instead of two. Ay... You're not getting married now, though, are you girls?"

Morgan's eyes got huge, and she shook her head vehemently. "I'm fifteen, sir. And I believe there's even an explicit ban on s-same-sex marriage in Ohio. Um... and we really haven't been together that long. So... um..." She hid behind her hair, absolutely terrified of what might happen next."

"Dad, you're scaring her," Santana said, snorting. Now she knew her dad was just messing with Morgan to see how she would react. But Morgan couldn't know that, so Santana put a hand on her back. "Morgan, it's okay. He's just having a go at you. Thinks he's funny that way."

"Of course I'm funny, Ana. Anyway, Morgan, tell me about yourself."

It was not as difficult as Morgan thought it would be to explain herself to Mr. Lopez. Eventually, she found herself comfortable enough to lean into Santana's shoulder while they all talked. It was almost easy, even if Morgan still worried that Mr. Lopez was going to make sure she never saw Santana again.

She did get particularly tense when Mr. Lopez asked about their sexual history. "I- I'm a virgin," Morgan admitted, blushing furiously.

Santana, meanwhile, pretended to be particularly interested in the back of her hand. Thankfully, her dad didn't pry about her own sexual doings. The mention of Brittany earlier was awkward enough.

When Santana felt the interrogation had gone on long enough, she looked up at the clock. It was getting rather late... "Daddy, I think that Morgan needs to go home now." At some point, Santana had wrapped an arm around Morgan's shoulders, and now she attempted to disentangle herself.

"But Ana, we're only just getting to know one another. You will be back soon, Morgan?"

The redheaded girl nodded. "It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Lopez. So... so may I continue to date your daughter?"

"Now how could I resist those eyes? Of course you may date my daughter, but you definitely must come by again. I'd like you to meet my wife." He directed his attentions to his daughter. "Ana, your girlfriend is an absolute darling. I do not like that you were dating behind my back, but I'm happy you found someone so sweet. Surely you will be a good influence on my daughter, Morgan?"

"I- I can try, sir."

"That's what I like to hear. Go on, then. Be back soon, Ana."

Santana nodded, grabbing Morgan by the hand, and pulling her out the front door. "We will."

It wasn't until they were both in the car that Morgan burst out laughing.

"Morgan? Hey, what's wrong?"

Trying her best to speak clearly, Morgan managed to say, "That was the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever done. And it went _fine_. All that worrying for nothing. Oh my goodness..."

Shaking her head and grinning, Santana leaned over. "You're the best. See you later?" She pressed her lips against Morgan's cheek.

Morgan took Santana's face in her hands gently and shifted to kiss her on the lips. "Always. I always want to see you."


	14. Author's Note

A/N

So... I haven't updated this story in a very, very long time. I've had 200 words sitting in a doc for months, and I've been busy with other things. Well. I think I might finish it, but I need to read up on continuity. The characters deserve at least some resolution.

Santana's characterization in particular might get a bit more faithful to her onscreen persona, since I found her de-badass-ization to be annoying myself in hindsight.

If anybody has any suggestions and is still creeping, I'll be happy to listen.


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